Valparaiso (5-8, 1-1 MVC)
Game #14 - January 4, 2025 - 2 p.m.
at Drake (8-5, 2-0 MVC)
Knapp Center (6,424) - Des Moines, Iowa

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team concludes the Iowa road swing in MVC play Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. tip at Drake - the second of four consecutive road games for the Beacons against top-100 NET teams.

Previously: Valpo opened up a stretch of four challenging road games in 11 days Thursday evening in Cedar Falls, Iowa, dropping a 93-70 decision to host UNI. Leah Earnest led all players with 21 points and paced the Beacons with six rebounds.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans is in her seventh year at the helm of the program in 2024-25 and owns a record of 65-124. Evans' first six seasons at the helm have seen Valpo's six of the top-eight single-season 3-pointers made marks, including each of the top five, while defensively, her teams have racked up steals at a high rate, averaging at least 7.7 steals/game in five of her six seasons. Under her guidance, Valpo players have earned an MVC Sixth Player of the Year honor, five All-Conference accolades, three All-Freshman/Newcomer Team awards and three All-Defensive Team honors.

Series Notes: Drake leads the all-time series 17-2, including an 8-1 mark on its home court, and has won the last four meetings in the series. Last season, the Beacons fell to the Bulldogs 83-54 at the ARC (despite Valpo connecting on 11 3-pointers) and 82-62 in Des Moines (again, despite Valpo going 11-of-20 from 3-point range).

@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was picked to finish in eighth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 193 points to edge out Indiana State.
- The eighth-place projection is two spots ahead of the Beacons' regular-season finish last year.
- Valpo is in its eighth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley was ranked 13th in conference NET last season. In Valpo's time in the MVC, the conference has been ranked as high as seventh in NET (2020-21).

...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished last season with a 5-25 overall record and finished at 4-16 in MVC play, good for 10th in the Valley standings.
- Leah Earnest was a Second Team All-MVC honoree. 
- Valpo won three consecutive road games in Valley play, the second straight year the Beacons have accomplished that - prior to that, the program had last accomplished that feat against three different opponents since 2007.

...at UNI
- Valpo got out to a quick start, as Mor Shabtai, Nevaeh Jackson and Leah Earnest each connected on a 3-pointer within the Beacons' first four possessions to give them a 9-4 lead just over two minutes in.
- UNI outscored Valpo 19-4 over the remainder of the opening period to lead 23-13 at the end of one.
- A triple by Earnest and a fast-break layup by Jackson gave the Beacons the first five points of the second quarter, forcing a UNI timeout with the deficit cut to 23-18 and 8:33 to play in the half.
- After the teams traded baskets out of the stoppage, the Panthers went on a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to pull out to a 39-22 lead. UNI's lead reached as many as 21 late in the half and was 50-30 at intermission.
- Valpo cut UNI's lead to 16 multiple times in the third quarter, but was unable to get any closer, and the Panthers went on a late run to close the quarter with a 75-51 lead.
- UNI's advantage remained in the 20-point range throughout the fourth quarter.
- Earnest led all players with 21 points, finishing the game 8-of-13 from the field, and also paced the Beacons with six rebounds.
- Jackson backed up Earnest with a 16-point night, connecting on 7-of-12 from the floor.
- The aforementioned duo was the only Valpo players to reach double figures, though, as the Beacons' next leading scorer was Lexi Castator, who hit 3-of-4 from the field for eight points — just one off her season high.
- Maci Rhoades set a career best with a team-high four assists.
- The Beacons posted a 48.2% field goal percentage Thursday, hitting 27-of-56 for their second-best effort against a D-I opponent this year. But UNI bettered that with a 56.4% clip from the floor and took advantage of 21 more free throw attempts, hitting 25-of-35 from the stripe to Valpo's 9-of-14.
- Valpo also lost the turnover battle by its highest margin of the year, committing 23 turnovers which the Panthers scored 28 points off. Meanwhile, the Beacons forced just 14 turnovers — their second-lowest total of the season — and scored just 12 points off turnovers.

...versus Southern Illinois
- An 11-0 run midway through the first quarter propelled Valpo to a 21-15 lead at the end of the opening period.
- After SIU cut the Beacons' lead to 26-25 midway through the second period, Valpo scored the next nine points on its way to a 36-26 halftime lead.
- A quick 7-0 spurt just past the midway point of the third quarter pushed Valpo's advantage to 18 points, and the Beacons led 58-41 with 10 minutes to play.
- The decisive lead proved quite handy in the fourth quarter, as the Beacons opened the final period with 12 consecutive empty possessions. SIU scored on four of its five trips on the offensive end to close to within 58-49 with 7:44 to play and force a Valpo timeout.
- While the Beacons were still dealing with their drought on the offensive end, their defense stepped up, limiting the Salukis to just two free throws over the next four minutes to maintain some breathing room.
- Layla Gold finally snapped the offensive skid with a driving layup with 3:23 remaining, and Nevaeh Jackson followed with a drive and finish of her own on the next possession to make it 62-51 and force an SIU timeout with 2:45 to go.
- The Beacons did not give up a point the rest of the way, closing out the game on an 11-0 run and holding the Salukis without a field goal over the final 7:44 and without a point over the final 5:05.
- The victory was Valpo's fifth in 14 all-time meetings against SIU, snapping a three-game winning streak by the Salukis. The 18-point margin of victory was Valpo's largest in the series.
- The Beacons held the Salukis to 19-of-60 shooting from the field Sunday, the 31.7% field goal percentage the lowest mark by a Valpo D-I opponent this season.
- Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Valpo hit at a 46.5% clip from the field and was 9-of-20 from deep. The Beacons' 45% mark from 3-point range was their second-best of the season — they have now hit at least 40% from 3-point range in four of the last six games.
- Valpo took advantage of its trips to the foul line as well Sunday, finishing 20-of-24 from the charity stripe — the 83.3% free throw percentage the team's second-best of the season.
- Leah Earnest finished with 22 points, including a 10-of-12 mark from the foul line, and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. It was her third 20-point double-double of the year, tied for the most among MVC players.
- Jackson backed Earnest up with an 18-point effort, including a 4-of-7 mark from the 3-point line. The sophomore scored in double figures for the ninth time this year and hit at least four triples for the fourth time.

...looking ahead
- Next weekend brings another challenging road swing, as the Beacons head first to Murray State and then Belmont as they continue MVC play.

...away from home
- Saturday's game is Valpo's eighth contest of the year away from home.
- The Beacons are still in search of their first true road win, as they sit at 0-5 in true road games.
- Valpo is also 1-1 in neutral site games.

@DrakeWBB
- The Bulldogs enter Saturday's game at 8-5 on the season and are 2-0 in MVC play, thanks to a 76-54 win at Evansville and an 86-63 victory last time out over UIC.
- Katie Dinnebier leads the league and ranks third nationally in assists (7.5/game), while also ranking second among MVC players in scoring and third in steals.
- Anna Miller leads the league and ranks sixth nationally in blocked shots (2.7/game), while also ranking second among MVC players in rebounding and 10th in scoring.

Quad Talk
- This two-week stretch brings a number of challenges for the Beacons, as they face the Valley's two toughest road swings on back-to-back weekends.
- All four games over these two weekends are against teams in the top-85 of the NET (UNI-72; Drake-82; Murray State-61; Belmont-56).
- Based on the quadrant system, the UNI, Murray State and Belmont games are Quad 1 games, while the game at Drake is a Quad 2 game.
- In nonconference play, Valpo played no Quad 1 games and just one Quad 2 game (at Lehigh-94).

The Road Life
- This weekend is the first of a rare back-to-back weekends with two games apiece within MVC play, as Valpo will play four road games in 11 days.
- This is just the second time since joining the Valley Valpo has four consecutive conference road games (outside of the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign) - but the other time had much closer trips, as the Beacons played at Indiana State and Evansville one weekend, and then at Bradley and Illinois State the next weekend in February 2023.
- Notably, after returning home the weekend of Jan. 17-19, the Beacons play their next three on the road, as seven of their first 10 conference games this year are away from home.
- On the flip side, that means Valpo closes the season with seven of its last 10 games at home.
 
Forcing Miscues
- While the Beacons suffered their worst turnover margin of the year (-9) last time out at UNI, they still rank as the MVC's best at forcing miscues.
- Through 13 games this year, Valpo is averaging 20.0 turnovers forced/game, easily the most in the MVC. 
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in eight of 13 games.
- Valpo also leads the MVC with 10.0 steals/game and has tallied double-figure steals in seven games this year, including six of the last nine.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in six games so far, highlighted by 29 forced turnovers against Detroit Mercy and 26 in back-to-back wins over Goshen and North Dakota.
- Against Goshen, the Beacons racked up 15 steals, a season high and the team's highest total in exactly one calendar year. The Beacons matched that mark in the win over Western Michigan as well.
- In the win over North Dakota, Valpo turned the Fighting Hawks' 26 turnovers into 33 points and held a massive 33-9 edge in points off turnovers. It was the program's greatest number of points off turnovers and the highest edge in the category since a Feb. 22, 2020 win at Loyola, when Valpo forced 31 turnovers and owns a 38-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

20/20/20/20 Vision
- 13 games into the season, and Valpo already has four different players with 10 combined 20-point games under their belt.
- That is already more players and more 20-point games as last year's team, which featured just two different players who combined for nine 20-point efforts.
- Leah Earnest has five such efforts: a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting last time out at UNI, 22 points in the win over SIU, 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting versus Detroit Mercy, 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win over Western Michigan and 29 points - the second-highest output of her career - at Lehigh.
- Earnest has scored 20 or more points 15 times in her collegiate career.
- Gold joined Earnest in crossing the 20-point mark versus UDM, finishing with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Earlier this year, Gold more than doubled her previous career best of 11 points with a 23-point night - which included five 3-pointers - at Milwaukee.
- Nevaeh Jackson raced past her previous career high with 26 points at Saint Louis; this coming after 20-point performances earlier in the season in the win over Goshen and against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- Against Trinity Christian, Kayla Preston smashed her previous best, going for 20 points on 7-10 FG and 6-8 FT.

Zooming Up the Charts
- Leah Earnest entered the season 14th in program history in career scoring, but has jumped all the way up to sixth all-time at Valpo with 1,329 career points.
- Against Detroit Mercy, Earnest leapfrogged three spots from ninth to sixth, surpassing Shay Frederick, Amber Schober and Betsy Rietema within the same game.
- Next up for Earnest is Meredith Hamlet in fifth with 1,350 career points.
- Earnest also continued her match up the career rebounding chart against UDM as well, moving past Tabitha Gerardot for fourth on the program's career rebounding chart. She finished the UNI game with 745 boards - next up there is Jeanette Gray in third position with 766 career boards.
- Earnest is also second all-time at Valpo with 126 games played (15 shy of Caitlin Morrison for the program record), fourth with 288 free throws made (moved up two spots versus SIU, 53 shy of third) and seventh with 478 field goals made (moved past Amber Schober at UNI, 14 shy of sixth).
- Earnest impacted the program's single-game record book as well at the Christmas City Classic as she went 12-for-12 at the foul line against Lehigh. She is one of just 12 players to hit 100% from the foul line in a game (minimum 10 attempts) and one of just four to do so on at least 12 tries.

No Sophomore Slump
- After ranking fourth on the team in scoring (7.2 points/game) as a rookie, sophomore Nevaeh Jackson has cemented herself as a consistent second scorer this season.
- Jackson has more than doubled her scoring average, entering Saturday's game second on the team with 14.6 points/game.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in 10 of 13 games, highlighted by her 26-point effort at Saint Louis.
- Jackson has improved her 2-point percentage by 127 points (.440 as a freshman, .567 to date this season) and her 3-point percentage by 50 points (.317 as a freshman, .367 to date this season) - the latter improvement coming with an increased volume of nearly three more attempts per game from deep.

Career Highs
- Five of Valpo's seven returnees have set career bests in the scoring column this season - the only returnees who haven't are Saniya Jackson, who is out for the season, and Earnest.
- Joining the trio who had their first career 20-point efforts are senior Katie Beyer and sophomore Raeven Raye-Redmond.
- Raye-Redmond smashed past her previous best of nine with a 15-point night on 6-of-9 shooting at Milwaukee.
- Beyer hit three 3-pointers on her way to a 14-point game in the season opener versus Liberty, and then against North Dakota, surpassed that again with a 16-point effort.

All-Tournament Honors
- Valpo had a pair of players recognized as All-Tournament Team honorees following the conclusion of the Christmas City Classic.
- Leah Earnest averaged 23.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game over the Beacons' two contests.
- Katie Beyer earned her selection by virtue of a strong 16-point performance, surpassing her career high, in the win over North Dakota.

Missing Pieces
- Valpo is down two starters for the remainder of the season due to injury.
- Saniya Jackson did not see any game action this year, undergoing successful knee surgery in early November.
- Raeven Raye-Redmond suffered a lower leg injury late in regulation Dec. 21 against Detroit Mercy and will miss the rest of the year as well.

Leah's Last Ride
- Graduate student Leah Earnest is back for her fifth and final season of eligibility, looking to put a bow on one of the most productive careers in program history.
- Earnest was a Second Team All-MVC selection last season and tabbed a preseason Second Team All-MVC choice this year.
- Earnest became the first Valpo player since 1991-92 to pace the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. 
- She ranked sixth in the Valley in scoring and eighth in rebounding, one of only four Valley players to rank in the top-eight of both categories. 
- Earnest scored 494 points on the season, fifth-most in a single season in program history and second-most since 1994.
- Should she duplicate her season totals from last year, Earnest would close her career third all-time at Valpo in scoring and second in rebounding.